Chapter 10
Bryse
“Good morning, beautiful,” I greeted her the next morning.
“Good morning. Aww, you’re so sweet,” she murmured sleepily through a yawn as she stretched.
“I went up to the B&B and picked up breakfast for us. One of the staff there was kind enough to give me this tray so that I could bring it back to you and serve you in bed.”
“Where’d you get the tulip? I don’t recall seeing any.”
“They’re on the walking path leading back to our cabin. We drove back down from the B&B last night, so we didn’t see them. But they’re all along the path.”
“That’s odd,” she stated, picking it up and holding it to her nose. I watched as she inhaled it and closed her eyes with the sweetest smile on those full lips.
“Why?”
“Tulips are generally in season from March to May.”
I shrugged. “I’m sure they pay their gardener a pretty penny to keep them in season all year round then.”
“I guess. Did you get anything to eat?” she teased, lifting the top off the plates to find bacon, eggs, sausage, waffles, and fruit.
“Girl, scoot over so I can get in here with you.”
She did as I requested and immediately started eating.
“Did you sleep well?” she asked.
“I slept like a baby. I haven’t slept that well in a long time.”
“Maybe because you didn’t have criminals calling you at all times of the night and creeping into your sleep,” she replied smartly.
I set my phone down. “Kenni, do you have a problem with what I do for a living?”
She paused and then started chewing slowly again. “Honestly?”
“We vowed nothing but for this weekend. Transparency and truth, remember?”
“I do worry about some of the people you defend. I’m scared that if you don’t win, they might retaliate. I’m scared that if you do win, they’ll be free to do the same heinous acts they were doing before. I’m scared that you’ll forever be looking over your shoulder.”
“Is that what you think that I do? Well, I don’t.”
“Your dad, right?”
“Not just him, but I’ve built a reputation of my own, baby. Your man ain’t no weak ass nigga. Bryson Fuller is a name that’s just as synonymous in the streets with power and aggression as it is in the courtrooms.”
“Okay, baby.”
I took her fork from her and cupped her chin, forcing her to turn and look at me. “I would never ask you to stop what you’re doing. I love what you do for a living because you’re good at it, and you’re passionate about it. I only ask that you make time for me in that.”
“You’re right, Bryse. I’m sorry. This is going to take some work.”
“We already knew that it would. But are you ready to put the work in? Because I know that I am.”
“I am, Bryse. You’re worth it. It’s been hard these last few months thinking that you’re cheating on me.”
“Shit, you’re telling me. All I’m saying is that this time, we need to be more focused on building our connection than before.
The last time we were all fire and chemistry.
Hot sex, passionate kisses, torrid fucking, that was us.
We fell in lust and not in love. This time, I want to fall in love with everything about you, girl. You feel me?”
She nodded slowly.
After we finished eating, we headed down to the lake because Kennedi had been itching to go. People were boating and fishing like they had been the day before. We spoke to several guests, and most of them were staying in the B&B, but a few, like us, had rented cabins.
“We’re having a big bonfire tonight. You two should join us,” Kerris, a curvy, dark-skinned sister, professed.
“The more, the merrier. The B&B does a lot of exciting things all year round, but the fall is the best time to come and visit up here,” her husband, L.A., stated.
“I did flip through the pamphlets and saw that there are hiking trails and places that we could go apple picking around here. Have you done either of those things?” Kenni asked.
“We went apple picking and bike riding along the nature trail,” Kerris replied. “We couldn’t hike the trails because L.A.’s knees can’t take it. After a lifetime of playing ball, he has to take it easy on them now.”
“A’ight, woman. My knees work just fine when I need them to. And I can still shoot some hoops,” he declared, smirking at me.
I laughed and replied, “I haven’t been on the court in a minute, and I can’t wait to get back to it, but like you, I might have to start taking it easy.”
“Man, how old are you?” he asked.
“Thirty-six. And trust me when I say that I’m starting to feel those years.”
“You two are still young. We’re in our mid-fifties,” Kerris declared.
“She’s only thirty-one,” I replied, pointing at Kenni.
Kerris waved a hand and declared, “Honey, you haven’t even lived yet.”
Kenni’s eyes sparkled with laughter.
“Well, we’re gonna head out. We just wanted to come down and check out the lake. When will the bonfire be, and where is it held?” I asked.
“Down here tonight starting at seven,” L.A. stated.
“Can we bring anything?” Kenni asked.
“The B&B hosts it. You simply need to bring yourselves,” Kerris answered. “If you’re going apple picking, head back up to the front desk, and they’ll give you baskets. You can drive to the orchards about eight minutes from here, walk, or wait for the transit van to transport you there.”
Kenni and I walked back up to the B&B to get our baskets. The same girl was there who had checked us in last night. I wasn’t crazy, but she looked like the same girl who had given me a lap dance at the club when Dominic and I went.
You didn’t get that close to a woman’s ass and had her pussy all in your face and not recognize her the next time that you saw her.
I started to say something, but Kennedi had given me hell the next few days after she learned I had a lap dance.
I knew her little ass was jealous, and at the time, I reveled in that shit.
But the last thing I needed was for her to know that the same girl who’d been popping her shit in my face was on our romantic weekend.
But that shit didn’t make sense. She couldn’t be the same woman.
That had been a few hundred miles away in Cherokee Springs.
It would be too much of a coincidence for her to appear here in the North Georgia Mountains.
She had to be a doppelganger. I was waiting for the first opportunity to confront her to confirm, but it hadn’t arisen yet.
This morning, I had gone up there to speak with her, but she had been busy checking other guests in.
I’d gone and grabbed breakfast for us, but when I returned from the dining hall, she hadn’t been there.